12/15/09

Hey everyone!

SO today I have to organize pictures to send home so I do not have much time, but I have had a very eventful week to say the least!

So this week we taught more lessons that I have in my WHOLE mission! We stayed really diligent all 7 days of the week and we did not have to go to Chihuahua so we accomplished a lot! We taught 94 lessons! :) And that does not include all of the super short conversations we have with people daily when we are teaching. Part of the reason we were able to teach so much is because we had a little activity on Saturday that my comp and I put together. Well actually we had 2 activities on Saturday. First in the morning we went to "las segundas" which is like a flea market where people sell second hand goods. Meoqui does not have a very big one obviously because its not a very big town, but we put up a table with lots of pictures and pamphlets and such and contacted people. Chewy came with us and it was so great to have him there! He is a convert of 2 months and already is sharing the gospel with all of his friends. Obviously he was nervous in front of lots of people, but he got used to it and was contacting and teaching on his own after a little while! :) I admire him a lot because I was always too nervous to share the gospel much with my friends and he is changing his whole life with the gospel! Seeing him progress is the happiest thing I have experienced in my life! :) We met and talked to a lot of people and found a few new people to teach. I love the mission! The activity was a lot of fun! Then that same night we had a FHE for the ward and had Chewy lead the activity and the members filled all of the roles and we were there to just participate and help the people progress. A good number of people ended up coming and we made a giant bucket of Carmel popcorn to eat at the end too. :)

On Sunday we had to both give talks and because of all the activities and such I had not prepared anything to speak on. But I was reading the book of Helaman the other day and I loved how the lord told Samuel the Lamanite to just go and speak and that he would put the words into his heart that he needed to say and not to worry much. So I studied a bit in the morning and prayed a lot to have the words come to my heart that I needed to share with the ward. I also tried to share a lot of stories too because the best talks always have a lot of stories and I am a good story teller. The talk went great and I spoke about love and missionary work and sharing the gospel. I gave the best talk I have ever given in my life and I was very relieved about it. I realized that God really will help us, IF we ask for it and stay humble. I realize it was not my own talents that allowed me to speak with clarity, but the Lord’s and he allowed me to be an instrument in his hands. :)

Today I also had to teach in district meeting and did the same thing! :) I prayed so much to help me be humble and to have the words come into my heart. To have the ability to stay relaxed and share what I had planned. My leader told me on Sunday night that I was to teach so there was not much time to study, but I did all I could and left the rest up to the Lord. If you remember the last time I taught I was very unpleased with the job I did so I really was hoping to improve this time around. THEN today I felt I gave a good lesson! It was EXACTLY what I wanted it to be and once again I had to just kneel down and thank the lord for making me more than I am and giving me the ability to teach and help the missionaries’ progress. Especially seeing how I was to speak on the law of chastity! ha-ha! It went great and there was a great discussion going. The best lessons are when it’s more of a group conversation than one person just speaking to everyone. I was excited after and pleased I was finally able to do a really good job. The trick is to stay SUPER humble and allow the lord to magnify your talents :) The mission is the greatest learning experience I have ever had! I am SO grateful to be here!

Oh and this week we had ward council and our bishop is stepping up a lot. We had our meeting with him this week and we figured out a lot of the things we need to get done. We do a lot if not ALL of the work the bishop should be doing during the week and we need to help him step up and fill his role and leader. We are going to visit several families this week with him so that is exciting and I hope we are able to help a lot.

It’s crazy to think Christmas is so close! There is not too much going on here, but the city did put up a big Christmas tree so that was cool and we took a few pictures in front of it. We are going to have conference with the lower half of the mission sometime soon, but I’m not sure when, so we will see how that goes. All is well here and we continue to work hard! I love the work and the time I have to be here in the mission, I would not trade it for the world!

Love you all so much and I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas!

Elder Andrew Davidson